Two New 'Ninja Assassin' Photos Bring Up the Heat

August 12, 2009 (7:32 am) GMT

Check out the two brand new stills from the James McTeigue-directed martial arts film, which give out shirtless Rain in action amidst burning fire.

Two fresh photos from the forthcoming martial arts film "Ninja Assassin" have popped out. One captures the shirtless and enraged Raizo, played by Korean pop artist Rain, standing tall amidst the fire, while another one gives out this deadly assassin launching his strike at his opponent inside what seems to be a dojo.

Earlier, director James McTeigue talked about the movie with Slash Film. One of the topics he discussed was the influence of anime for the movie, saying "Yeah, there is actually because anime really did influence what I wanted to do. I guess the obvious one in the way that you see how I dealt with the blood which I guess there's a lot of which I mentioned in the introdcut - which I mentioned into the introduction to the film that you saw."

"I wanted to treat that like anime and the obvious influence there was Ninja Scroll," he continued. "I always liked the way that that film dealt with blood and so I tried to do that. Some - mostly digital but there was a lot of practical effect that I did. Samurai Champloo that I really liked, so like, when Assassins Creed was probably - but that's a game that I was, kind of, like, influenced by that obviously."

"Ninja Assassin" centers its story on Raizo, one of the deadliest trained assassins in the world. When he discovers that the organization raising him, the Ozunu Clan, is merciless, he breaks out of it to avenge his friend's death. One day, his path crosses Europol agent Mika Coretti who is investigating the Clan for political murder. Now, the two have to work together to reach their goal, destroying Ozunu Clan.

Filmed in Berlin, Germany, the action adventure movie is produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers. It features the likes of Naomie Harris, Ben Miles, Sho Kosugi and Rick Yune in addition to Rain. Warner Bros. Pictures planned to release this film late this year on November 25.